Türkiye: Expert dismayed by continued misuse of counter terrorism law to keep human rights defenders in long-term detention

GENEVA (16 January 2025) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, today expressed deep concern at the continued long-term detention in Türkiye of nine prominent human rights defenders and lawyers, all of whom were arbitrarily arrested in connection with their peaceful work and convicted in unfair trials on spurious terrorism-related charges.

“I find it alarming that Türkiye has used counter-terrorism laws to target and silence human rights defenders and peaceful voices who are critical of government policies, sentencing them to lengthy prison terms,” Lawlor said. “This is contrary to Türkiye’s international human rights obligations”.

The Special Rapporteur noted that since the start of her mandate in May 2020, she has written twice to the Turkish authorities about the case of the human rights defenders. “While I thank the Government for its reply to one of my letters, I remain dismayed that the criminalisation of their human rights work has not stopped,” she said.

Eight of the Turkish human rights defenders – Ms Barkin Timtik, Mr Aytaç Ünsal, Mr Özgür Y?lmaz, Mr Behiç A?ç?, Mr Engin Göko?lu, Mr Süleyman Gökten, Mr Selçuk Koza?açl? and Ms Oya Aslan – are members of the Progressive Lawyers’ Association (Ça?da? Hukukçular Derne?i – ÇHD), representing victims of police violence and torture and citizens prosecuted for their opinions. They were arrested between 2018 and 2019, and charged with “membership of a terrorist organisation”; two of them were also charged with “propaganda for a terrorist organisation”. They were sentenced to up to 13 years in prison in a trial, known as the ÇHD II trial, that failed to meet international fair trial and due process standards.

The Supreme Court upheld their sentences in 2020 and convicted seven of them under the Turkish Anti-Terror Code. The eighth ÇHD human rights defender, Ms Oya Aslan, was arrested later, tried separately under terrorism-related charges and convicted in 2022. Her long-term sentence of 11 years was upheld by a regional court in November 2024.

Turan Canpolat, a lawyer with the Malatya Bar Association, was also tried under terrorism-related articles of the Turkish Penal Code. He has been held since 2016, when he was arrested based on incriminating evidence given by his client, who later admitted he was forced to make these statements. Nonetheless, Canpolat was sentenced to 10 years in prison for supposed links with the Gülen Movement, which Türkiye accuses of being behind an attempted coup in 2016.

All nine human rights defenders are held in high-security, closed prisons. “It is an outrage that they are detained in high security prisons, despite their history of peaceful human rights defence work,” Lawlor said.

The expert found it extremely disturbing to learn that one of the defendants, Mr Turan Canpolat, had been held in solitary confinement for almost three years, although no specific disciplinary orders had been issued.

“I urge the Turkish Government to abide by international human rights law, and ensure that no defendant is subjected to ill-treatment and that long-term detainees obtain a fair hearing in their appeals to higher courts. I am ready to discuss this further with Turkish authorities,” the Special Rapporteur said.

The Special Rapporteur is in contact with the Turkish authorities on this issue.

ENDS